Talent Development Middle Grades Program has potentially positive effects on comprehension for adolescent readers

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has reviewed the research on the Talent Development Middle Grades Program and finds that it has potentially positive impacts.

The Talent Development Middle Grades Program is a comprehensive reform model for large urban middle schools that aims to improve student achievement by transforming the structure and curriculum. The literacy component of the program, Student Team Literature, utilizes cooperative learning activities, high-interest reading materials, and explicit instruction to teach reading strategies, comprehension skills, and fluency in reading and writing. The WWC reviewed 18 studies that examined the effects of the Talent Development Middle Grades Program on the reading achievement of adolescent readers. One study, a quasi-experimental design, meets WWC evidence standards with reservations and included adolescent readers from grades 7 and 8 in 29 urban middle schools in the Northeast. Based on this study, the WWC found that the program has potentially positive effects on comprehension for adolescent readers.

Read the full report now at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=617.